The Glass Warrior [Weak to Strong LitRPG]

Lucas took a few seconds to consider whether throwing more wood into the fire was really the right choice at that moment.

But watching everyone else plunder while he couldn't? That was simply too painful. Sure, he had taken way more than they ever could in this chaos, but still—

From behind the broken pillar, something shot out: a fire bullet, streaking straight toward the chest of one of the still, silent Guardians. And that was all it took.

The moment the fiery projectile struck its armor, the Guardian came to life. A goblin, too busy stuffing his hands with loot, barely had time to react before the sword came down, cleaving him in half in an instant.

"Shit!" the Hive group leader cursed, watching the bloody scene unfold. For a second, everyone froze.

Everyone, that is, except for the elf warrior, who was still running for his life with the first Guardian hot on his heels.

The remaining goblins let out shrill, furious screams, cursing whoever had woken the Guardian. For once, their greed took a backseat to rage. They abandoned their looting and charged at the newly awakened Guardian, daggers flashing as they tried to get their revenge.

One of them lunged low, aiming to slash at the Guardian's exposed knee joint, but before he could reach it, the Guardian's sword swung down in a wide arc. The goblin barely had time to leap back, the tip of the blade carving a deep gash across his chest. He screamed, clutching the wound as he stumbled, but the Guardian didn't give him time to recover. With mechanical precision, it twisted and brought its blade down again. This time, the goblin wasn't fast enough. The heavy sword split his skull clean through, his lifeless body crumpling to the floor with a wet thud.

The three remaining goblins skidded to a stop, panic flashing in their beady eyes. They turned on their heel and bolted, abandoning both vengeance and treasure alike.

Meanwhile, the rest of the battlefield had fully descended into madness. The Hive members scrambled, some still trying to grab whatever they could, others desperately fending off the Guardians.

The only person who'd seen the perpetrator, though, was quite busy, as Lucas chased him with a barrage of fire bullets after stepping out of his hiding spot.

Lucas had no intention of letting the elf mage get away unscathed. His partner wouldn't be able to protect him now, busy as he was keeping away from the two metal monsters, but as Lucas kept firing, he realized the mage wasn't as powerless as he'd initially assumed.

The elf barely moved, as his staff did most of the work. With each shot Lucas fired, a shield of shimmering blue energy flickered to life, absorbing the impact before vanishing again. Fire burned away harmlessly, leaving the elf untouched.

Lucas clicked his tongue. Annoying bastard.

The mage wasn't attacking back, though, no, he was purely on the defensive, backing away cautiously with every spell cast. He knew that getting caught up in this fight would be suicide.

Unfortunately, with the whole place turned into a boiling pot, time was of the essence. Lucas couldn't waste any more of it. With a sharp exhale, he abandoned the chase, pivoting back toward the more immediate priority: more loot. The elf mage, wisely, didn't try to follow.

Dodging a wide slash from one of the Guardians, Lucas darted between the chaos, eyes scanning the wreckage for anything worth taking. He found an old sword, its hilt encrusted with unfamiliar runes, and more of the gems he had picked up earlier. As he stuffed them into his ring, he caught the tail end of someone shouting over the noise.

"Mana Jewels!"

Lucas's ears perked up. He glanced at the violet gemstones he had gathered. Mana Jewels, huh? That had to mean the red ones were Health Jewels, right?

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His grin widened. With a name like that, they had to be good. Lucas grabbed as many as he could before the battlefield grew too chaotic to keep looting.

Amidst the clashing steel and dying screams, a voice rose above the chaos.

"We can't hold out much longer!" the elf warrior shouted, his breath ragged. He'd barely managed to stay ahead of the first Guardian, and with the second one carving through their ranks, they were quickly running out of options.

Lucas didn't care. He was too busy stuffing his ring with every valuable he could grab.

Then, from across the room, someone yelled, "The door! I found the way out!"

Lucas's fingers froze mid-motion. His gaze snapped toward the sound.

Across the chamber, near the far wall, a Hive member was waving frantically, standing beside a stone door Lucas had seen before. It wasn't a secret entrance or anything, just something no one had noticed in the heat of battle.

Lucas clicked his tongue. He was expecting it to take a little longer for them to find it; there was still plenty of treasure left to plunder in that room, after all.

Almost immediately, the Hive group surged toward the exit, abandoning the fight in favor of survival. Even the elf warrior hesitated for only a second before sprinting toward the door.

Unfortunately, if they decided to leave, Lucas couldn't really stay behind, otherwise he'd lose whatever treasures were waiting in the next room. That wouldn't do. So, he decided he'd had enough. Just as he prepared to move, though, the elf mage stepped into his path.

"You're not going anywhere," he said, staff pointed at Lucas while the others kept fending off the Guardians.

Lucas raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And who's gonna stop me? You?"

The elf mage's glare hardened. "You woke that second Guardian up. You left us behind before. You threw this entire place into chaos." He turned to the others, voice rising. "If we let him go, he'll just do it again. We can't allow it."

"You killed my friends!" yelled one of the surviving goblins, threatening to stab him with his dagger, but his revenge was cut short as a Guardian began chasing him instead.

"He's right," Antony spat, though the satisfaction in his voice was barely hidden as he stayed well away from the ongoing battle. "He's been messing with us from the start."

The other three Hive members exchanged uneasy glances. Most of them didn't particularly care about revenge, but they also didn't want to waste time arguing.

"Fine," the Hive leader growled, drawing his weapon. "Let's just get this over with."

"Oh? And you think I'll just take that lying down, do you?" Lucas asked with a grin.

"What else could you do?" Antony sneered, though Lucas detected a hint of unease in his voice.

"Well, I guess you're about to find out." Lucas smirked, dodging a blade aimed at his neck at the very last second.

Then, with a sharp flick of his wrist, he fired off two fire shots, not at the elf mage, not at the Hive members, but at the two remaining dormant Guardians standing against the walls.

A heartbeat later, the iron-clad figures jerked to life. The room filled with the deep, grinding sound of metal shifting as the newly awakened sentinels stepped forward.

The moment stretched, as everyone processed what had just happened. Then the realization hit them all at once.

"You bastard!" someone screamed.

"You've killed us all!"

Lucas just grinned. "What? You didn't want me to go through, right? I didn't want to be alone that's all."

The Guardians wasted no time. Their swords flashed, cutting down one of the slower Hive members before he could even turn to run. The room, already a chaotic battleground, erupted into full-blown panic.

The elf warrior cursed under his breath and lunged at one of the Guardians, his blade sparking against its armored hide as he tried to hold it back. The Hive leader barked out desperate orders, but no one was listening anymore, it was every man for himself.

Even Lucas had to admit things were getting a little dicey. One of the newly awakened Guardians had already set its sights on him, swinging its sword in a devastating downward arc. He barely sidestepped in time, the blade cleaving into the stone where he had just been standing.

For a moment, the thrill of danger pulsed through him. Okay, maybe that was a bit close.

But unlike the others, Lucas had one advantage: he was much faster and more mobile thanks to his light clothing. He used the chaos to slip through the gaps, darting past bodies, dodging erratic swings, and weaving through the battlefield.

In a last-ditch attempt to stop him, the elf mage cast a spell aimed at his back, but Lucas had been expecting it. With a quick sidestep, he dodged cleanly before resuming his sprint toward the door.

Just as it was within reach, he caught sight of one of the Guardians coming for him, its blade flashing downward. He threw himself to the side, rolling across the ground as the sword slammed into the stone where he had been standing.

Getting up almost immediately, it took him only a single step to reach the door. With a quick shove, he pushed it open and stepped inside.

Then, right before slamming it shut behind him, he called out, "It's been nice knowing ya!"

And with that, the stone door sealed the chaos behind him.